


Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Beginning of the End

by CavalierConvoy



Series: MTMTE Series One: Shoot Straight with a Crooked Gun [29]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers Generation One, Transformers Generation Two, Transformers: Beast Machines, Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other, Questioning, Self-Doubt, Side Quests, Temporal Paradox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 13:06:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3570713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/pseuds/CavalierConvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A week ago, on an unknown planet, the Maximals question their memories: did they inf fact escape from the Beast Wars? With Depth Charge's presence, Pantera and Hellfire are leaning towards accepting that Megatron's takeover of Cybertron is the false memory.</p><p>Back on Cybertron, three hundred years from now, Pantera doubts her own existence, as she and Rattrap split from the other Maximals to ascertain that her past was not a fabrication.</p><p>And on the <i>Wrecker's Spoils</i> in the present, cracking a massive info dump into Cavalier's cloud server gives Hellfire a challenge, but what they learn may only cast reluctance in Sandstorm and Octane's participation with the search for the <i>Lost Light.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Beginning of the End

We think we climb so high  
All up the backs we've condemned  
We face our consequence  
This is the beginning of the end  
—["The Beginning of the End"](https://youtu.be/Ce5vC_fBasE) by Nine Inch Nails, from _Year Zero_

Cybertropolis  
Three Hundred Stels from Now

"Holy Mother of Gouda, kitty-cat!" Rattrap swore, slipping through the same crack in the wall that Black Arachnia had used earlier. "Remind me never to get you mad!"

Rather than respond, Pantera reported to Optimus. "The generator was destabilising," she explained; she had reverted to beast mode, the hammer strapped to her back. The three rejoined first Cheetor and Botanica, then Black Arachnia in the basement. "We figured a way to use Trailbreaker's force field to localise the effects, but we don't know how long it will hold it until the quantum foam disperses. Sky stayed behind to see what he can do to trick it into being stable."

"Wait, this isn't just a standard issue fold engine, is it?" Black Arachnia demanded.

"The running theory is the metrotitan we're tracking pulled the _Lost Light_ from its path because of its quantum drive," Pantera informed. "Find Metroplex and shut down the space bridge he's using to keep the ship in place."

"I'm telling ya, Shrubs, that weren't no picnic," Rattrap picked up the narration, directing his attention to Botanica.

"The entire crew massacred by some twisted marauders — how many Autobots you think, 'Tera? Two hundred?"

Starscream had mentioned the Decepticon Justice Division. Whether it were the truth, or if it was speculation, Pantera kept the observation quiet. "There abouts, yeah," she retained a collected tone. "Long story short: a malfunctioning quantum generator is something no one wants to be in the reality of. According to Sky, the generator had been blown apart once already, likely being held together by the metrotitan's will. He wants to live."

"But if the big guy's loses that hold — " Rattrap interjected.

"—We might as well call this war with Megatron a draw," Black Arachnia sighed. "Okay, the generator's bad news for us. What's the plan?"

"Get rid of it," Pantera replied. "If Metroplex has enough power to hold it in place, we have to convince him to send it back into space, preferably into the heart of a supermassive black hole. He might not even realise what he's got; just looking for a power source to keep him alive."

"So we have to convince a sentient being to die?" Botanica was horrified.

"For the sake of the universe? Seems to be a no-brainer," Black Arachnia countered.

"I'm hoping for another way, Botanica," Pantera added, "but most likely, the metrotitan's already dead."

"Creepy Cybertronian Biology one-oh-one," Rattrap interjected, "Metrotitans take a long time to die, and they don't even know it."

Botanica bowed her head; she was unsettled by the observation.

"I promise you," Pantera pledged, "if there's a chance we can save him, we will."

"So, 'Tera, you know this place; does it have a sub-basement?" Cheetor questioned.

"And then some. During the Clampdown, this was the underground terminal to ferry dissidents, anarchists, and so-called 'disposables'. Not Decepticons, mind — just those who bucked against Functionist thought. During the Great War, the tunnels were re-purposed for freedom fighters. And finally, when the Autobots retook Iacon, they were used to drag inebriated Wreckers back to the barracks." She grinned at the younger felinoid. "We were a questionable lot back then."

"Would these barracks have any weapons lockers, by any chance?" Rattrap was hopeful.

"Not our size," Pantera sighed. "Else I'd take you back there. We had been heavy hitters for the most part. Wait." They had reached a fork in the tunnel. She pointed her nose to the right path. "Primal, continue down that way, wait for us at the next intersection. I just thought of something we could use. Rattrap, with me."

"Elder," Optimus beckoned, not quite a warning.

"There should be demolition charges we can use to bring down the tunnels," she explained, "and I need Rattrap's expertise. I don't want to take a chance with the cycle-drones."

Optimus regarded this for a cycle before nodding. "Stay safe; we'll meet at the next intersection."

Splitting with the group, Pantera and Rattrap ventured down the left corridor. After five cycles, Rattrap cleared his throat. "Hey, kitty-cat? Been meaning to ask you something."

"What about?"

"We're — not really going to plant explosives, are we?"

"If we can find some, yeah. But I want to check on something first."

"So we are going to the barracks?"

"As I said, if we can scrounge some demolition charges, we can buy us some time. But I need to check something." She hesitated. "Look, I'm a bit out-of-sorts. I just need to confirm that what I saw was an alternate historical event and not something that happened in our own timeline."

"What'd'ja see?"

"Me. Well, Artemis. Because if that happened in our timeline," she stumbled over her words, "then everything I know has been a lie. I've been living a fabricated life. And that bothers me. If my old rifle is in its locker back at the barracks, then I can be certain."

"Wow. That's — unnerving." Rattrap sprinted next to her. "But that ... wasn't exactly what I wanted to ask you, though."

"Go ahead."

"I can't seem to shake it, but..." he met her gaze, "Do you have the feeling that we didn't survive that blast?"

 

*  
Unknown Planet  
One Decacycle Ago

 

"You're the physicist; what does that mean?"

Hellfire shrugged, attention never deviating from the board in his lap. <<Hard telling. How did we get here? Fact: we — you and I — were brought here by the quantum generator surge. Somehow we were thrust somewhere in time to just before we returned to Cybertron.>>

"Can I throw in another variable?" Pantera questioned. "Is it possible that this isn't temporal?"

<<That we never left our original time, just space? To a parallel where we still had our Transmetal forms?>> Hellfire looked down at the starhopper's console. <<We separate from the main crew, you were piloting, I was in stasis, Depth Charge in the CR. Something causes us to crash.>>

"A possibility."

<<Might be a good story to go by if we come across anyone. Allow me to present another possible scenario: we may have a malfunctioning transwarp on top of a damaged quantum generator. We could be anywhere in time; hell, we could have been the cause for the stasis bomb topside.>> He sighed, an electronic snap. <<I don't have enough information to make a working hypothesis. And I'm still floored by the multiple starhoppers. I'm sorry, 'Tera, but I don't think we'll be able to go home.>>

"I've already accepted that," Pantera admitted.

Hellfire nodded, returning to the work on the navigation. <<I should have something operational by the megacycle. Can you see how Depth Charge is coming?>>

"Can do," She agreed, standing.

<<Hey, 'Tera?>>

"Yeah?"

<<I'm glad you found him again. You deserve to be happy.>> He looked up, but did not meet her optics. <<If this is another scenario, if we're picking up a double memory of the Vehicon occupation...I think this means in this time line, him being here, he chose you over X.>>

A faint smile crossed her lips as she fought the emotion rising from her spark. "Thank you, Sky," she whispered, before existing the ship.

Rounding the fuselage, she found Depth Charge covered in mechanic smudges standing by the engine compartment, dusting off his hands.

"Think we got it," he announced. "Want to run an idea by you: we hit Sirius II before Cybertron. Stock up, maybe get another ship or at least passage. Think you can access your old account without raising suspicion?"

"If I did, we'd be long gone by then."

"Already pulled up a star chart from one of the other 'hoppers; we're closer to the Sirius system than Lambda Scorpii. Rather we take our chances with neutral territory, especially with your contacts."

"Agreed." She wasted no time with her approval, but hesitated on her next order of business. "Depth Charge, do you remember anything after facing off with X?"

"Nope. Sorry, 'Tera. Just assumed someone dragged my carcass back to base and into a CR chamber afterwards. You?"

"I'm still foggy. Sky—Hellfire thinks we went separate from the rest of the crew, that I was piloting your 'hopper with you in CR and him in stasis." A gamble.

Depth Charge furrowed his brow. "The 'hopper was destroyed when I touched down. Wait. Didn't we fix it? Hn."

He was having double memories as well. The elder Maximal would be unable to acquire any new information from either of her companions. "It doesn't matter; the crash addled all of us. The important thing now is that we get to Sirius II, if anything to get acclimated to whatever time we found ourselves in."

He ruffled her plume. "Gotta admit," he smirked. "It's good to have a partner again."

_You deserve to be happy._

She took his hand in both of hers and smiled.

 

*  
_Wreckers' Spoils_  
Now

 

"Are we there yet?" Octane whined. He had reclaimed the converted ensign's bench, sprawled over the length with a bottle of V7 dangling from his fingertips. He had been quick to pick up where he had left off, now sharing Depth Charge's bravery and hitting the stout.

"Hard telling when we don't know where 'there' is." Sandstorm spun in the comm seat to face the navigation board. "What's the verdict, Hellfire? Do we have an ETA, or are we pulling a Rodimus and screwing around the universe until we run into them?"

<<Not necessarily. The problem is to figure out which one to follow.>>

Octane and Sandstorm shared a look, then back at the Autobot sitting navigation. "Say what?" The taller triple-changer demanded.

<<That data Sandstorm found on the comms? The one set up by your previous communications officer? There was two sets, the split second after launch. Two sets of data, exact same time, with different information. One's corrupted, one's not.>>

"No brainer," Depth Charge replied. "Go with the uncorrupted one."

<<Again, not necessarily,>> Hellfire disagreed. <<The corrupted one has more — interesting — data. Less routine. And more information. It had been broadcasting longer.>>

"Then why is it corrupted?" Pantera asked.

<<Some of the data shows patterning of radiation degradation. Likely the vicinity of malfunctioining quantum engines and the like. That's the information from the ship that we watched explode on the news feed. The uncorrupted one only goes in about a decacycle or so into the mission, then...nothing. Transmission ends.>>  
"So what happened in the uncorrupted one?" Sandstorm questioned.

<<Routine stuff, it looks like; disjointed, some random —>>

"That's our Brat," Octane and Sandstorm announced in unison.

<<—and the last data track has to do with ... a sparkeater hunt? Really?>>

Pantera leaned forward, optics narrowed and lips pressed together in a grim line. _Cavalier was not on board the_ Lost Light _on Cybertron._ At least, not what she could remember. She held her tongue.

<<Now the corrupted one, on the other hand...there's also mention of a sparkeater. But there's more after that. How is she doing this?>>

"Doing what? Transmitting her diary to her old station?" Octane shrugged. "Dunno. I'd figure it would be like sending messages over subspace."

"Doesn't make sense if the Lost Light has been out of contact with anyone since its departure," Sandstorm pointed out.

<<Not unless she's using it in conjunction with a cloud server.>> Hellfire tapped his index fingers together.

<<We've got the Lost Light sporting a quantum generator, and the Wreckers' Spoils with a modified engine no one can figure out. She may have set it up initially as external storage, and in a quirk of quantum entanglement, she's able to connect to her cloud drive. Well.>>

"Well what?" Depth Charge snapped.

<<The latest entry is a massive info dump. Encrypted to boot.>>

"Brat hacked something juicy," Octane grinned.

"Little good that'll do if she's encrypted it," Sandstorm countered. "Her passcodes are insane to figure out. She even tried telling me how she comes up with them. I got lost after she started talking about anime."

"What's anime?" Depth Charge demanded.

Octane chuckled. "Earth animation, specifically from Japan, but that's beside the point. The fact is, you think she's random? Her passcodes are worse."

<<Give me five cycles,>> Hellfire bowed his head in challenge, cracking his knuckles and shaking out his hands, a grin splitting his face with an expression reminding the others of the origin of his spark.

After three and a half, he then questioned, <<Who knows about Garrus-9?>>

 

NEXT CHAPTER: Straight to Video


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